Companies across Louisiana and the country have faced challenges trying to understand and comply with the sweeping health care reforms known as ?Obamacare.?

Written by

Jeff Matthews
Louisiana Gannett

When AFCO Industries Inc. was looking for a new director of human resources recently, the focus was squarely on one area.

"There are a lot of things that an HR director does," said Jim Waters, president and chief executive officer of the Alexandria-based manufacturing company. "Plant safety, plant policies and procedures ... these are important things. But there's no doubt the one skill, the one experience we looked for and prioritized was knowledge of health care."

The search landed AFCO Julie Bonial, who came with two decades of experience working in health care. Her primary task - ...